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Wasted Summer

It was so humid and sweat was dripping off of Hannah's fur. It didn't help that she was working at a Fast Food Joint, something she applied a long time ago, a little after her 16th birthday, which she was 17 now. Her mother was skimping on money for drugs, and their landlord has been threatening to completely remove them from the trailer park which is why she was now a part-time fry cook for this cesspool of garbage dressed up as food. Her only way to deal with her job was a new friend of hers; a hyena named Simpson Jeffery or Simpy as she called him to his light but docile annoyance.

Simpy was probably the only one that reached out to her in this job, which everyone else seemed to pass her off as the annoying new girl who would keep bugging them with questions with "easy" answers (despite her being almost silent for most of her shifts). Simpy was a nickname given by Hannah due to the fact that she reminded him of her favorite cartoon character and that she would end nicknames she gave to people with the "ee" sounds at the end. At first, Simpy was trying to hit on her, trying to get "advances" to hook up, but when she caved in, she had to tell Simpy straight that they were only out as friends and that she couldn't extend it any further. Though she sensed a feeling of hurt and disappointment from him, he later understood and kept her as a friend of hers.

Even though they were friends, she still kept her sexuality a secret. For over 11 years she kept it a secret from everyone she knew, and it tore her apart that she had to. Outside from her very small circle of friends (two, rather), her whole town was as homophobic as they were. Everyone was against gays and lesbians and if you wanted someone you didn't like to have their reputation ruined, just convince others that individual was a homosexual. The employed, public servants, neighbors you didn't like; all you had to do was convince the community they were gay and it would tear them down into pieces. If one was actually gay, and it's a decreasing occurrence now, they'd leave town without a second's notice. Why it was so frowned upon in her community, she didn't know, but it didn't matter because all she knew was to keep quiet about it since it meant keeping the ones she cared for the most close to her.

"Hey, Hannah; do you want to leave an hour early?" her current shift manager asked her while she was getting something from the stove.

Hannah actually didn't want to, but it wasn't like they asked her, but rather just flat out told her things were slow and she had to be the one to sacrifice minimum wage. "Sure, I'll go," she told him.

"Lucky. I wish I could get out early," Simpy (at this point) snuck towards her between gaps.

"Yeah, real lucky, Simpy; you'd understand if you knew how far six bucks went for my situation." But Simpy did understand her situation. In a matter of fact, he would ask if she was short on rent, which was a losing battle for Hannah to deny it, because she didn't want to have to depend on Simpy's money when she was off a few bucks. Simpy would always win, though, and give her only just enough to make it through the month, not wanting to get any more than what she needed.

"Ugh, 'Simpy' makes me sound dim-witted," he complained. "Couldn't you have stuck with Simpson? It sounds manlier."

Hannah couldn't help but smile at his expense. "Well, I think it's a really cute nickname for you."

"Really?! You think so..." his glee turned into shame as the shift manager was scolding him for flirting.

As soon as her shift was over, she made a call on the work phone. "Yeah, you think you can pick me up early...I just got off...I know; I was released early...You're not mad, are you...What are you busy with...Oh...You want me to hang out with you two?...You think I could just go home...No, I'm not jealous that you're dating...I know, I'm bad around your past boyfr...Well, I just don't want to see you get hurt...It has nothing to do with what I've gone through...Please don't be mad......I'm sorry...Maria?"

Hannah just heard the dial tone and then hung up. She felt like a jerk to be scaring away her boyfriends, but jealousy clouded her mind whenever she met one of them. Being very observant, detective-like perhaps, she could find out what was wrong with the guys she dated easily after one day. Hannah has their lies and any secrets like STDs and irresponsible teenage parents that abandoned their kids. Those, however, were the justified ones. Other times, she would just threaten them that they better care of Maria, or else. Maria heard of these instances and got into an argument with Hannah, and a regretful, saddened Hannah would beg for forgiveness on her knees.

A red convertible drove through, with Maria driving her date, a black and white cat. "Hey, Hannah! This is Gus," she greeted Hannah to him. "Gus, this is one of my best friends, Hannah." As she got into the car, Gus gave her a friendly smile. She didn't necessarily like Gus, but she went along with it for Maria's sake. Hannah took off her top uniform, wearing a spaghetti strap tank top underneath. Now she looked normal, despite the fact that her hair was unkempt for leaving it in a pony tail and hat all day, two things she loathed. "So, what restaurant do you want to go to, Gus?"

"I thought we were going to my house to hang out," a confused Gus corrected.

"No, no no no no. I think it would be better to eat out tonight," Maria tried to convince him. Maria was going to make sure Hannah didn't catch anything wrong with Gus. If she even entered his house, she'd find something in an instant. "Hannah, do you have any suggestions?"

On the spot, Hannah sort of rejected saying, "I'm not really up for eating at a restaurant after getting out of work..."

"Elroni's it is," Maria decided, having named a restaurant unknown to both Hannah and Gus. Upon arriving at Elroni's, the other two found that the restaurant was expensive; really expensive. The two were seated, having been next to the richest man of the city, so what Maria pointed out. Hannah was surprised at the menu; the cheapest meal would have cost her a full shift at her job. "So, do the two of you have an idea as to what you'd like? How about starting with an appetizer?"

Hannah looked at the two; Maria's calm expression was opposite to Gus's wide-eyed surprise, probably from the cost. "Maria, don't you think this is pricy?" Hannah asked.

"Nah, it's alright. I can afford your guy's meals easily," Maria assured with a smile. All the appetizers had unbelievable price tags. Hannah knew she was rich, but she's going through far lengths to not mess this up with her boyfriend.

"Well, this neot...neo-tay-moree sounds exotic. How about trying this?" Gus asked.

"I never heard of that. How about it, Hannah?" Maria went to Hannah with a nervous smile.

Afraid of disappointing her, she went, "Sure, why not? I think it could be good." Her smiling calmed Maria a bit and she searched around to find something that she could afford.

They told their waiter to give them the said appetizer and Maria closed her menu to tell Hannah how great Gus was. "So, Hannah, did you know that Gus has been attending Denwood University during his high school year ever since he was a freshman?" It caught Hannah's attention, wanting to know more about his college career.

"Yeah, it's really no big deal, really," Gus said, toning down his achievements. "I was just really good at math, I guess, and Denwood just begged me to enroll, so I did. I've been working on getting a degree in Aerodynamics."

"Wow, aerodynamics," Maria said in a fake, interested voice. "You know, I'm just dead afraid of heights, but Hannah loves that kind of stuff like roller coasters and flying, don't you Hannah?"

Hannah froze a bit, looking at Maria. Her big smile turned into a nervous stare as she figured out Hannah noticed something wrong with Gus, and all she did was mouthed "no" while shaking her head slowly. The need to tell Maria overcame Hannah as she said, "Maria, I know you'll be disappointed in me, but...Gus is lying to you." That revelation seemed to hit Maria in the back of her head as she hit it against the table. Looking towards Gus, Hannah explained, "Denwood made a policy about five years ago to accept students only if they had their high school diploma upon registering. Also, Denwood doesn't have an Aerodynamics program. You're referring to Denmoore University." Gus was very petrified for being caught by Hannah, now completely speechless. Hannah then saw at the corner of her eye their waiter carting a nude leopard woman with sushi covering her body.

"Here is your Nyotaimori," the waiter approached them, entering at the wrong time. As Gus saw what he asked for, his mortified feeling was multiplied as he dropped his head against the table, joining Maria. Though Hannah would be gawking at this leopard's beautiful figure displayed in front of them, she instead mourned at what she just did to her best friend.

The sun was setting; Maria had just dropped Gus off at his house while she was taking Hannah home. "Y-you're mad at me, aren't you," Hannah asked Maria, holding back from crying for ruining her night. Maria just kept driving with with a face of frustrated bitterness. "Maria, he was lying to you."

"And?" Maria came back with, finally breaking her silence. "I knew he was lying and I didn't care. What do you expect; he was dating a cheerleader from a rich family." Hannah just kept quiet from getting on Maria's worse side.

They arrived at Hannah's trailer house, already emanating a feeling of worry that it might be one of her mom's nights again. She opened the car door, slowly, but as soon as she closed it, she heard someone screaming, "Get off me," later followed by "Fuck off," inside of the house. It was loud enough to where both she and Maria could hear it.

"Hey," Maria called out to Hannah, "Do you want to stay at my place for the night?" Hannah shook her head, guilty that she already caused enough problems for her. She tried inching closer to the door until Maria interrupted again, "Come back in the car. Stay at my house for the night." When Hannah heard a window break, she scurried back in the car, driving off with Maria.

It wasn't unusual to come back one day to her house to see that her mother was putting up with some kind of problematic activity. She figured it was some drunkard wanting more from her mom, or probably a drug dealer robbing her of her prostitution money. That didn't matter as Hannah was providing most of the rent and probably what little food they had. However, it also wasn't unusual for Maria to help Hannah as well; just like when they were younger, she'd always offer her a cozy bed, a roof over her head, and if needed, a good meal. Hannah could never pay it back to her, but all Maria asked for was her friendship. As they got on the highway, their silence wasn't even compensated with the radio. As Hannah looked over to Maria, she just focused on the road but her face didn't look angry at all. Almost like she wanted to say something, but it took a while for it to finally come out.

"Hannah," she said in a way that made her regret her cold demeanor towards her. "I love you so much, but you have to let me go."

It puzzled Hannah to hear her say such things, as if she knew how much Hannah really felt for her. "What do you mean, Maria?" She had act like she didn't know just to make sure. Hannah couldn't afford for Maria to know she loved her.

"We're the best of friends any couple of friends really could be. Nothing is going to change that, ever. But I'm at a time in my life that I want to find love with someone, you know, and you have to understand that it won't change anything between the two of us." Though, with that confirmation at hand, she still understood that she was getting in the way of her happiness, and it made her feel all the more terrible.

"I know, Maria, but..." Even with her reassurance, it would change the relationship between the two of them, because their relationship was much different than she could realize.

They got to Maria's house, same as many other nights since they were little, and Maria jumped out of the car. As Hannah took her second step out of the car, Maria grabbed her and pulled her close to her. "Here, from this day forth, I promise we'll always be friends, so long as you are willing to accept the guys I date. Ok?"

Hannah weakly returned the favor, only realizing that the next guy she dates, she'll steer clear from their relationship. She's forced her each and every year, now that they're entering their senior year, and it was time to let Maria go to find a guy that will love her the same way she does. She hoped that the next guy would be a good guy, but even if he wasn't, she had to stay away. She had to allow Maria to find the love she wanted.

"Ok, Maria. I understand."